Wayland, MA, January 31, 2005 - The Open Geospatial Consortium Inc. (OGC) invites additional participation in a Web Processing Service Interoperability Experiment to test and refine a draft implementation specification that enables geoprocessing via the Internet.. The draft specification is described in the Web Processing Service (WPS) Discussion Paper. This specification can be used to implement any kind of geospatial calculation or model as a web service, so that it can easily be found and invoked by a client. The experiment will refine the WPS interface by implementing several example services and clients to ensure that the specification addresses the complete range of functionality required to identify the data required, initiate the calculation, and manage the outputs so that they can be accessed by the client. The discussion paper can be downloaded from http://www.opengeospatial.org/specs/?page=discussion .
Natural Resources Canada is the lead initiator of the Interoperability Experiment. The other initiators are PCI Geomatics, Inc. (Canada) and Galdos Systems, Inc. (Canada). Participant organizations include Aachen University of Technology (Germany); Centre for Computational Geography, Leeds (UK); MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning (USA); and Wupperverband (Germany).
An Interoperability Experiment is a process led and executed by OGC members to achieve a narrowly defined technical objective that furthers the OGC Technical Baseline. Participants must be OGC members, but organizations that are not members can submit data through organizations that are members. The WPS Interoperability Experiment is described at http://www.opengeospatial.org/initiatives/?iid=148. Prospective participants can contact George Percivall percivall [at] opengeospatial.org> for more information.
The OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 270 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.